


Bound

by Sakura_no_Miko



Category: X/1999
Genre: BDSM, Character Death, Character Study, M/M, Slash, Smut, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-13
Updated: 2006-04-13
Packaged: 2017-10-12 02:21:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/119722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakura_no_Miko/pseuds/Sakura_no_Miko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A night of illicit pleasure leads to a starling realization. Truly, it was a relationship of three--the assassin, the onmyouji, and the spirit of the sakura tree.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bound

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  Pairing: (Tree-san) x Seishirou x Subaru  
> Rating: R  
> Warnings: sex, scary tree demon, male/male, some SPOILERS for vol 16 (but very subtle)  
> Summary: A night of illicit pleasure leads to a starling realization. Truly, it was a relationship of three--the assassin, the onmyouji, and the spirit of the sakura tree.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own X/1999 or any of its characters. I make no profit from this fan-work.

  
The first time had been such a thrill.

Forbidden pleasure in the night, darkness eating all illumination, the mistress in the marriage bed…

It didn't matter who had broke, it didn't matter what they thought, it didn't matter what they did.

"I've always been bound by the cherry blossoms," one whispered, testing the strength of the bonds holding him. To fall would break the illusion, and he didn't want that.

"And you always will be," the other whispered back.

The fear of discovery made it more thrilling. An irrational fear — for no person could break the illusion short of the caster, and he was in no position to do so.

And yet he felt Subaru was being watched.

The branches bound his hands and feet, leaving him hanging, crucified, awaiting every anxious desire of his captor. It was the sin they both wanted, even if only in dreams and illusions.

Just once, they begged Fate silently, just once to cure this madness, to savor the moment, before we go back to Your path.

They kissed, and Subaru was reminded of days long past, days of happiness and yearnings he could never understand. All that time, he had loved Seishirou, loved him so deeply and completely that it was as if he had found some missing part of himself, something no one else could fill.

And to find it was all a lie…

Well, he conceded softly, perhaps not _all_ a lie, as he felt the sweetness of arousal course through him, the electric thrill of Seishirou's hands wandering over his bare stomach and lower, of Seishirou's flesh, hard against his thigh, and their lips, crushed together so painfully it was getting hard to breathe.

Just this one time, he begged again, and sighed into the blankness of pleasure coursing through him.

An odd sensation tickled his chest, just above his belly.

But Seishirou's hands were…

He froze, seeing as much as feeling the sudden rage in Seishirou's eyes. A hand was violent thrust in his direction — and, ashamed, he closed his eyes, expecting death.

There was a cracking sound, the sharp sensation of whatever had been against his chest being pulled away, hitting against him painfully, and disappearing again.

He blinked his eyes open, and beheld, in Seishirou's outstretched hand, the unmistakable limb of a cherry tree. With a start he realized it had only been a stray branch brushing up against him. Seishirou had broken it away.

He smiled. So possessive…

Jealous of a _tree_ , for God's sake!

He longed to pull Seishirou's face back to his, cradle him and hold him away from the absurdity of his emotions. For a man so able to hide his love, his pain, his sorrow, it was incredible how difficult it was for him to control his anger.

Subaru smiled, faintly. But the look shifted into a gasping, wailing mask of pleasure before Seishirou could see.

Their delicious play lasted an eternity, yet not long enough. Subaru's body was taunt, stretched out agonizingly, held tight by the twisted branches chaining him against the cherry tree.

And, suddenly, he was free, falling into Seishirou's safe embrace. The moment of panic, adrenaline, sheer and utter _fear_ drove his passion to dizzying heights, sweet kisses and longing caresses taken boldly, without a thought for tomorrow's shame.

Subaru paused for a breath, suddenly aware of the storm of cherry petals enveloping them, the soft petals falling against his skin sensually, the scent that Seishirou always had suddenly enveloping him. It was, he reflected, as if he had somehow fallen into Seishirou's being, his soul, his pure self — for this was everything Seishirou was, surely, teasingly soft touches and a sweetness that filled his sense.

They fell back to earth, the soft grass their bed, the ancient tree looming like some dark guardian of their secret intimacy. The lower branches caressed Seishirou's back even as his own hands did, and they tangled together in the rush and need to please him, united to this one important task.

Again, that feeling, as if some other eyes examined him, filing him away in their memories.

But there was no time, no time to think of anything but this wonderful and utterly consuming madness and pleasure. Just once, he reminded himself, so you'd better enjoy it. And then, back to the darkness, the guilt, the wretchedness of that world where this beguiling creature is your hated enemy.

No words could describe it, he thought hazily, his body a tangle of limbs and flesh and fluid.

He cried out his pleasure, dimly aware that his bonds were growing tighter, unbreakable. He was always bound by the cherry blossoms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He lay there, alone, safely tucked in the illusion, dazed and content.

Finally, Subaru reached to shrug his clothes back on, leaning on the tree for support. Vaguely, he recalled the warnings of his grandmother, never to go near this tree, this cursed thing. But he'd been attracted from the start, attracted to the swaying branches, the soft pink petals blooming out of season, the scent of nature on the breeze. The strange power emanating coiled around him, and he wondered if he could capture it, capture this alluring thing as his own.

Seishirou had only been an afterthought.

Strange how things had changed.

The thought of Seishirou — his hands, his voice, his scent — made Subaru flush warmly. He took a moment to savor it.

Without the calming presence of the man himself, it was too easy to recall the hatred, the deep-seated and inerasable hatred he held for the man who murdered his sister. It would have been simpler to kill him, leave him in a bloody heap instead of showing him the very image of his flesh, limp and torn, so thankfully dead, and leaving his heart, shattered beyond reply, trapped in a barely living husk.

Subaru's hands clenched. No matter how much he loved Seishirou, he could never…

A chill wind blew, forcing Subaru to pull his jacket tight as he leaned against the tree.

The blossoms blew around him again, a veritable storm of soft, pink petals. He had to blink to keep his eyes from being blinded. And when he opened them…

The world was in darkness.

He recognized the illusion instantly — faster than instantly — having seen it so often from Seishirou's hands. And, so, he was also instantly aware of the fact that this spell was _not_ Seishirou's.

Even if it was the same magic, the same feeling, the same strength — perhaps more strength — it was not Seishirou. He didn't need the scars on his hands to tell him that. Even the last shreds of his heart could feel Seishirou's presence. "It's you, isn't it?" he whispered, and was almost overcome by the sheer irrationality of the thought. His hands reached into the darkness, and he let out a soft sigh of relief when he felt the ancient tree, still next to him, even if he couldn't see it.

A stray branch coiled down, the soft petals tickling his fingertips.

"You're…the tree," Subaru whispered. The flowers fluttered against his hand, and, in a beacon of soft twilight, a single, perfect cherry blossom floated down, right to the tip of his nose.

Subaru recoiled in sudden revulsion. "You're the one who started this!" Subaru nearly shrieked before he caught a hold of himself. "You're the one who took my Seishirou!"

The tree branch shot back, and he could feel the breeze. The world was alight in twilight, and he saw it, caught back by some invisible wind, shaking and slamming its limbs back and forth with a violence he couldn't believe.

"Mother!"

A voice in the darkness drew his attention into the endless abyss of the illusion, to a scene that played across its walls like a movie.

"Mother…"

He could see the speaker, walking back towards him, a tiny black figure in the distance. And, behind him, the mother, a tall and regal figure in red.

"Seishirou…" he whispered, half-amazed that he could recognize in that little boy the cold, brown eyes, the skilled hands, and the dark and ageless experience of the Sakurazukamori.

The figures came closer, so close he could almost touch them…

…but Seishirou did not hear him…

The woman suddenly crouched, drawing her hands together into a small bowl. Something dripped out. Blood…

The child-Seishirou dipped his fingers into it, red, red like paint, his eyes strangely calm, his lips pursed in a world-weary sort of way that belied his age.

"Go on," the woman whispered, her voice like sweetened honey. "It loves this."

Wordlessly, the boy came to the other side of the ancient tree, leaning against it, and finally laying his head upon it wearily, lifting his blood-stained fingertips up against the bark and drawing little lines of red across it. A word. Sa…ku…ra…

"See?" the woman whispered once more. "It loves you, Sei. It knows who you are, who you will be…"

The boy turned to look at his mother, then back to the tree.

He smiled.

The wind blew again, a stray branch pushed across Seishirou's back, as if caressing him.

Subaru stepped forward, wanting to touch Seishirou somehow. He didn't want to see this…

The boy shimmered and disappeared, leaving only the memory of his pleased smile.

"What does that prove?" Subaru said angrily to the darkness. "He liked you as a child? So did I!" He shrugged his coat tighter, trying to hide his discomfort as much from himself as from the tree.

A loud thump drew his eyes back.

The woman — the mother — oh, he thought to himself, how could he have forgotten! — lay there, dead and lifeless as a doll, in a crumpled, bloody heap at the trees roots.

He twisted around, desperately turning away form the sight, and…  
Seishirou!

He half-fell, half-leaped towards the figure, suddenly so much more familiar, despite the youthful clothing and the eyes that were both a bright and gorgeous brown.

He beheld the bloodied hands and knew the truth.

A nightmare, he told himself, surely a terrible nightmare!

Seishirou — the Seishirou he'd known beneath these very blossoms as a child — looked upon his mother's body impassively. He looked up, up into the storm of pink blossoms, to a small branch that touched his head, once, twice, an affectionate sort of petting.

Seishirou looked back to the body, and Subaru unconsciously followed his gaze.

And there, in cold, brilliant color, was not the body of his mother.

It was Subaru.

He screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Subaru awoke, it was already sunset.

His only action, upon leaving, was to look once more at the tree, its pink blossoms shimmering slightly in the twilight.

He whispered, very quietly, with more strength than even he'd known he'd possessed, "Seishirou is mine."

The branches waved around vigorously in protest.

There went any idea of it merely being a strange dream, conjured up by paranoia and a keen sense of the spirit world.

Suddenly, it seemed to change its mind, as a branch slowly, gently moved to touch his hands in a gesture of peace.

"And I belong to Seishirou," Subaru whispered, pulling his hand away and stepping back.

The branches withdrew as well, the entire tree seeming to shift away form him, turning its back to him.

Subaru almost laughed as he turned to leave.

In his line of work — filled with curses and betrayals, declarations of love and love gone wrong — he had learned to recognize the signs of a jealous lover.

And unlike Seishirou, the tree was no good at hiding it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The days passed uneventfully, until one night, the cool autumn breeze blew harshly, causing a storm of golden-brown leaves to flutter and twirl about on their way to earth.

The cherry petals, however, lay unperturbed until the approach of a familiar face.

The Sakurazukamori was coming.

Even from this distance, it was easy to see him, clad in black, a single eye occasionally surveying the scenery.

He threw the body, still dripping warm, sweet blood, gracelessly to the foot of the tree, like so much meat. He may as well have been carrying a sack of potatoes.

He didn't move when the branches dipped down to touch his head. He was used to their strange caresses.

Eternity had passed in the span of a few days.

He had returned, then, his hands dripping with blood, so much the same, and yet not. For the first time, he had no body to bring.

He wondered at the strange ache in his eyes, the agony of waiting for tears that had never been there.

He thought about the events that had passed, that long and terrible night, on a far-away bridge.

He had not meant for it to happen this way. Hadn't meant for a spell to change its course and strike down the other. Hadn't meant to watch, helpless and impotent, as the waters washed away the corpse that rightfully belong here, with all the others.

It had been a shock.

To feel one instant, and be numb the next.

And only one thought had entered his mind.

So Subaru had come, not weeping, not smiling, to the only other being that could understand his pain, his agony.

He looked up at the tree. "You won," he whispered. "He loved you more than me."

The branches fluttered in the calm night, reaching down to comfort him. He breathed deeply in the cherry scent, and he could almost feel Seishirou's arms around him.

But, in the end, it was only the two of them.

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  Originally posted [here](http://katana-space.net/Forum/Clampesque/Messages/1144943520.4632511) at [CLAMPesque](http://katana-space.net/Forum/Clampesque/) and [livejournal](http://zetsubou-hana.livejournal.com/2230.html)


End file.
